1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector mounted on circuit board by SMT (Surface Mount Technology), and particularly to an electrical connector having improved soldering pieces.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Electrical connectors generally include an insulative housing and a mounting portion which mounts on the print circuit board (PCB). Traditionally, the mounting portion is inserted into a hole formed on the PCB and then is soldered on the board by SMT.
Traditionally, the mounting portion includes a mounting flange and a base. The mounting flange is mounted on the insulative housing. The base is soldered on the PCB. As the base is made of sheet metal and suspended outside the insulative housing, it is easy to be deformed by unexpected external force. Example of electrical connector with similar structure is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,420.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. Other improvement approaches can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,906 and the application Ser. No. 09/752,890 filed on Dec. 28, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,803, of which both have the same inventor and the same assignee with the instant invention.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with a soldering piece not easy to be deformed by unexpected external force.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, a connector in accordance with the present invention includes a housing, a plurality of electrical contacts and a pair of soldering pieces. The housing has two side walls, a bottom wall, an engaging portion formed on each side wall and defining a mounting channel extending downwardly to the bottom wall, and a pair of projections is formed on the bottom wall. The electrical contacts are mounted in the housing with one end of each contact extending outwardly from the housing to engage with the PCB. Each soldering piece comprises a planar base and an engaging flake vertical to the planar base. The planar base is mounted in the channel and the engaging flake abuts against the projection.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.